low blood sugar babies

[trylyn5]

I'm seeing a lot of moms lately posting on the general that the hospital insisted on giving their babies formula in the hospital due to low blood sugar. This in turn really upset their breastfeeding relationships.

I thought I'd read recently that this wasn't really necessary but is often hospital protocol and it really pisses me off that this is the case. Am I right? What if a parent refused to allow their baby to be given formula for this stated reason?

I don't want to be unsupportive of these these moms so I'm posting over here.

[Mommymoo]

I work in mom/baby as a nurse and let me tell you a low blood sugar is very serious if untreated. It depends on how the low the blood sugar was, the gestational age of the baby along with their weight and any condition mom might have.

That being said our policy is to have the mother bf first and if the baby doesn't bf well to supplement afterwards or syringe feed the baby. We then recheck the sugar in 1 hour. It depends on how the low the blood sugar was, the gestational age of the baby along with their weight and any condition mom might have.

A parent can refuse anything in the hospital that have to know if something serious happens to the baby and the parents were made aware then they are liable not the hospital

[Nipple_nectar]

Most parents are not aware that they can refuse to follow the protocol. I agree that it would be wise to research and know the numbers, so that they can decide for themselves, if it is necessary.

[KatieLou]

DS had low blood sugar at the hospital. I refused formula, unless my pedi thought it would be critical to his health. She did come talk to me, and his blood sugar keep dropping, so I agrreed to let them give him some sugar water. Don't know if that was the right thing to do, but he was fine after that.

[kohlby]

My hospital said their policy was to give something if the blood sugar was 40 or below. The policy was also to check blood sugar four times in any baby who was over a certain weight. (I don't remember the weight, but it was rather low IMO, like 8.5 lbs).

I somehow had the foresight to have a section in my birth plan about what to do in the case of low blood sugar. (I had passed the 3 hour GTT but I knew DD was going to be a huge baby like DS was). She was whisked to the nursery due to meconium and I was in recovery due to a c-section. About 30 minutes later, a nurse came to me to ask me what I wanted done about the blood sugar since it was below 40. I nursed DD and it went right back up. If that wasn't in my birth plan, the nurse may have not thought to come down to recovery to ask me. A parent can refuse any treatment but if drs/nurses think getting the blood sugar back up is urgent, there's always the chance they'll give the formula/sugar water and say it was medically needed. However, drs/nurses also can phrase things to scare women into agreeing - like telling the mother that low blood sugar can cause brain damage in a baby would make any concerned mother agree to give formula if she doesn't realize that bf can help. (I was only aware of what to do since I knew I was having another huge baby and I realized after the fact, that I should have refused three of DS's blood sugar tests after the first one was fine. I was told by a nurse DS needed so many since his blood sugar was dropping - I think it hit 60 at the lowest, so definately not an issue. But I had no idea what any of the numbers meant then).

[3girls2luv]

Our policy states that blood sugars are to be checked for small for gestational age, large for gest. age, diabetic mom, or symptomatic babies. If it is below 45, the baby must be fed with a repeat glucose in one hour. If it continues to be low then you must notify the Dr.

However our nurses do glucose checks on ALL EBF babies and this really irritates me because there is no reason for this and sometimes they will FF 30ml for a baby with a 42 blood sugar. We are now closely monitoring these nurses and making sure they have legit. reasons for doing these glucose checks.

[trylyn5]

Why don't they just recommend that baby be bf instead? Why is formula better for this. In another thread someone mentioned that bfing works just as well to increase sugar levels. Is this not accurate?

[Macabe]

sometimes there's just not enough colostrum in the first couple of days to keep bl sugar up.

I didn't refuse formula but I insisted on no bottles. We cup fed the first day ( after bf each time) and I would have switched to an SNS but by the next day bf was enough.

[Meredith]

DS1 was given formula (I'm not sure by what means, bottle, cup, or other) in the hospital because his BGL was low. He was LGA, and I had GD.

What bothers me is that he was never brought to me to nurse before they decided to go ahead and give him formula. I do believe there were other issues that negatively impacted our BF relationship, but I definitely believe that this was one of them. He was given formula before he was ever put to the breast, and I wasn't asked first, either.

I realize the seriousness of low BGLs, but I would've liked the opportunity to nurse him first. If frequent nursing didn't help, I would probably have consented to glucose solution given by oral syringe or cup. There was so much I didn't know then, though.

When a mother has the opportunity to nurse her baby, without interruption, frequently, it's very unlikely that BGL will be a problem, from what I've read. Of course, it still happens. There are always exceptions, and formula/glucose/donor breastmilk should be available for those situations, but allowing the mother to frequently nurse her baby ASAP after birth, without interruption, is key.

[Babyblue]

ds was given formula in a bottle after I positivly forbid it, he was taken away from me 5 mins after birth for no medical reason after I forbid it, and I was not allowed to bf him at first.

all this because he was not screaming like a banshe at birth, but breathing steadly and looking everywhere.

and then they said he had to remain in the nursery for observation for four hours, and little wonder they said his bs was low and he needed food. but they wernt bright enough to let me nurse? even when I had colestrum leaking everywhere in the delervery room?

this is one reason why I dont want another hospital birth, but I am not getting a lot of choice in the matter.

[nicurn]

However, drs/nurses also can phrase things to scare women into agreeing - like telling the mother that low blood sugar can cause brain damage in a baby would make any concerned mother agree to give formula if she doesn't realize that bf can help.

They say this because it is true. We had a baby admitted earlier this year who was having seizures because the mother refused formula when the baby's blood sugar dropped.

Why don't they just recommend that baby be bf instead? Why is formula better for this. In another thread someone mentioned that bfing works just as well to increase sugar levels. Is this not accurate?

Breastfeeding works better once a woman's milk has come in, but current standard hospital interventions can delay that for up to five days. A woman needs to be certain both that she has milk and that the baby can effect milk transfer before she flat out refused formula for a hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) baby.


When a mother has the opportunity to nurse her baby, without interruption, frequently, it's very unlikely that BGL will be a problem, from what I've read. Of course, it still happens. There are always exceptions, and formula/glucose/donor breastmilk should be available for those situations, but allowing the mother to frequently nurse her baby ASAP after birth, without interruption, is key.

I agree with this. Educating oneself about the hospital's actual policy is important, too. After my first birth, the nurse came to me (a public health nurse at the time) and said, "Your baby's blood sugar is 70, and you are exhausted, so I need to give him a bottle. One bottle won't keep you from breastfeeding." In fact, that actually was the first step in my failure to breastfeed.

Before my second birth I educated myself, and when we got to the mother-baby floor, I had DH go buy me an SNS and then had some formula brought to the room. DS2 was IUGR, so they had to check his sugar several times, and I put him to breast as often as possible. His sugar got down to 36, but their policy for intervention was 35 so I never had to use the SNS.

Formula is not evil. Formula can save lives. It is possible to be so afraid of it that you harm your baby, but it is also possible to be misinformed by uneducated hospital staff. I think the key is self-education.

[Sputterduck]

((hugs)) for everyone who have had bad experiences. :(

[KerryS]

Our policy states that blood sugars are to be checked for small for gestational age, large for gest. age, diabetic mom, or symptomatic babies. If it is below 45, the baby must be fed with a repeat glucose in one hour. If it continues to be low then you must notify the Dr.


This is our guideline as well, except our threshold is 40, not 45. Also, if the baby is unwell, checking blood sugar is a routine part of any sick-baby workup.

[KerryS]

Why don't they just recommend that baby be bf instead? Why is formula better for this. In another thread someone mentioned that bfing works just as well to increase sugar levels. Is this not accurate?


We do recommend breastfeeding first. However, if the baby is sleepy and not latching effectively, they're not going to get any colostrum. Pumping is often ineffective the first few times mom pumps.

[3girls2luv]

We do recommend breastfeeding first. However, if the baby is sleepy and not latching effectively, they're not going to get any colostrum. Pumping is often ineffective the first few times mom pumps.


I never resort to using a pump since it rarely works the first time. If mom has colostrum I will manually express sometimes up to 5ml and I will then syringe or finger feed that to the baby. Most of the time the baby will nurse within the next 20-30min and the sugar will come up.

The AAP states that if a baby's glucose drops in the first 24hrs, you must rule out some other conditions bc it rarely a lack of feeding that causes low BS in a heathy term newborn.

[Mommymoo]

I never resort to using a pump since it rarely works the first time. If mom has colostrum I will manually express sometimes up to 5ml and I will then syringe or finger feed that to the baby. Most of the time the baby will nurse within the next 20-30min and the sugar will come up.



See, now I find the opposite. When I have mom pump the first time they usually get a good amount(enough for a feeding) and then the 2nd pumping they usually get nothing.

[CatEyes]

I had gestational diabetes when i was pregnant with my last one. I was Dxed with Hep. C and decided not to breast feed due to my diagnosis. Bonnie's blood sugar bottomed out after i had her and the nurse came and asked me if it was ok to give her formula to raise her blood sugar. I told her to go ahead since i wasn't breastfeeding.

I wondered what other allernatives there would be if i DID decide to breastfeed.

[PSMommy]

THIS PISSES ME OFF......

When I had Serra, they took her to check her out, and weeled me to my room, I didnt SEE her for 2 hours, I kept calling the nurses button, they told me they were just checking her weight, THEY GAVE MY BABY FORMULA IN A BOTTLE (NOT A CUP OR SYRNIGE) WITHOUT TELLING ME.

I was so SO SO SO so angry (still am, can you tell).

[PiccoloRose]

I refused a glucose bottle for DD. I actually had to refuse it every 15 minutes for about 4 hours. Once the staff left us alone long enough for DD to settle and eat, she was just fine. They kept saying her blood sugar was borderline, and not really too low, but they kept rechecking constantly. DD was staying so upset with the constant poking and prodding and sticking that she would just be settling again when they were back.

[Wildf1ower]

I don't know what the cutoff is for pushing formula, but I just wanted to share that when I had DD (at 35w4d) via c-section I was worried about her having low blood sugar and wanting to give formula. I didn't want formula messing up her gut flora, since she was already a c-section (which messes up gut flora) so what I did just in case is ordered a small amount (8 oz) of donor breastmilk to have on hand *just in case*. I didn't end up using it, but I felt it would have been a better choice for a new (preterm) baby than formula.

[Wildf1ower]

ds was given formula in a bottle after I positivly forbid it, he was taken away from me 5 mins after birth for no medical reason after I forbid it, and I was not allowed to bf him at first.

all this because he was not screaming like a banshe at birth, but breathing steadly and looking everywhere.

and then they said he had to remain in the nursery for observation for four hours, and little wonder they said his bs was low and he needed food. but they wernt bright enough to let me nurse? even when I had colestrum leaking everywhere in the delervery room?

this is one reason why I dont want another hospital birth, but I am not getting a lot of choice in the matter.

That really sucks! :( I'm sorry that was your experience. Maybe you could find another doc/hospital to birth in next time? Both my hospitals births were wonderful experiences with none of the horror stories you often hear as reasons to avoid hospitals.

[KatieLou]

THIS PISSES ME OFF......

When I had Serra, they took her to check her out, and weeled me to my room, I didnt SEE her for 2 hours, I kept calling the nurses button, they told me they were just checking her weight, THEY GAVE MY BABY FORMULA IN A BOTTLE (NOT A CUP OR SYRNIGE) WITHOUT TELLING ME.

I was so SO SO SO so angry (still am, can you tell).


(((hugs)))

I had a horibble nurse with DD, who i later found out was very agianst bfing. DD was a very sleepy baby, as newborns can be, and i had a hard time keeping he awake to nurse. After many many tears from me, and trying everything in the eorld to keep her awake, and 5 hours of her not feeding, the nurse came in slammed a bottle of formula down on my table and said "It has been 6 hours, this baby has to eat, or she will starve! Give her the formula, or we will do it in the nursery"

Thankfully I knew better. I told the snotty nurse that I would give DD the formula just so she would leave my room, and at the shift change, I called in the new nurse who promptly threw the formula in the trash can, and told me to pay no mind to the other nurse. That she had issues with bfing. She assured what i was doing was right for my baby, and helped me to get DD properly latched on. She was my right hand! She aslo reported the other nurse, and the other nurse was so mad at me. Everytime she came into my room she was snotty to me. I finally asked that she not be allowed near me or my baby.

Needless to say, DD spent no time in the nursey, unless they had to have hr, but no extra time at all.

My experiance with DS was much much better.